Thursday, August 17, 2006

Pendergraft shut down - for now

James Pendergraft is a rather infamous abortionist from Florida whose five statewide offices have been "ordered to stop providing abortions" and his medical license has been suspended because Pendergraft allegedly aborted a 28 week unborn child without obtaining the opinion of a second doctor (which is necessary in Florida if the third-trimester is not performed in a hospital. According to Pendergraft's spokesperson, the woman's life was in danger.

The article notes:

In addition to the 2005 incident, state documents also describe a 2004 abortion in which Pendergraft determined a pregnant woman to be at 22 weeks' gestation. She was given medication to take at home to initiate uterine contractions and begin the abortion process.

But state records indicate that the woman progressed more quickly than expected and aborted the fetus at home before she could return to the clinic. A hospital later evaluated the fetus and estimated its gestational age at 25 to 27 weeks -- putting it in the third trimester.

In both cases, the state claims "Dr. Pendergraft endangered two female patients by performing third-trimester abortions outside a hospital setting and without concurring certification from a second physician."

The article also contains this rather chilling passage from Pendergraft's spokesperson: "I strongly maintain that not only is [Pendergraft] not a danger to women, he is their only salvation in these cases."